Early Ford V-8 Club Forum

EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Bench testing 37 radio

Reply to Discussion | New Discussion << previous || next >>

Posted By Discussion Topic: Bench testing 37 radio -- page: 1 2     BRL 07-19-2023 @ 9:43 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 102 Joined: Oct 2021 Hi Guys: After a little bit of research and measuring, I have determined that the OEM (Philco) power wire to my radio is 12 AWG. I have looked everywhere on the internet to find a replacement wire but with no luck. All roads lead to Rhode Island Wiring Services. So, I am going to send them my old power wires and see if they can reproduce them for me. I also found a OEM looking SPST switch for the glove box security switch from Leeds Radio. It is not the OEM Philco switch, but looks very similar and is new with high current capacity. I will advise how this saga turns out in a few months. BRL 07-13-2023 @ 10:17 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 102 Joined: Oct 2021 Hi Guys: So my power wires to the control head and receiver were so old that the insulation was crumbling off. I have found a supplier of the metal body in-line AGC fuse holder and have one on order. I also have the little cardboard insulation tube for the 15A AGC fuse. Since the power wires were so old I decided I better not use them for my bench test so I made my own bench test power wires using 12 AWG wire and a plastic in-line fuse holder from a local car parts shop. I soldered it all together and connected control head, receiver, speaker, and antenna all together and also made ground wires for all components. The radio turned on right away with a low hum. After about 10 seconds I started getting reception to all the local AM stations and the reception was quite good. The tone knob on the receiver also seems to work as does the volume rheostat. I forgot if the control head light worked, but if it doesnt I think that may be a matter or replacing the bulb. So, other than making new original style power wires I am going to say my radio is working properly. Does anyone know where I can get OEM style power wire for the radio? I think my falling apart wires are original and they are single conductor wire with a fabric jacket. Color is faded but appears to be brown or green with a yellow tracer. The power wire between the control head and receiver has a shield (metal overbraid) for a short length that comes out of the receiver and attached to the side of the receiver with a clip. This overbraid also has a fabric cover that is very faded and may have been brown or tan color with a yellow tracer. BRL 06-30-2023 @ 7:49 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 102 Joined: Oct 2021 Hi Guys: It appears that a modern AGC 15 fast blow glass fuse (1.25" long x .25" dia) will fit in the old Philco metal in-line fuseholder. I have cardboard fuse insulators on order from an Ebay supplier...so as soon as I get these I will try and power up the radio. I will keep you posted. BTW: there is a single-pole single-throw toggle switch in the 1936 and 1938 Philco parts catalogs that has Philco P/N 3253. The image of the toggle part of the switch looks like it may be the correct switch for the radio glove box switch. I have not tried to see if they are procurable yet. BRL 06-29-2023 @ 7:29 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 102 Joined: Oct 2021 Hi Guys: On closer inspection of the 37 Ford radio schematic I do see that there is a fuse (p/n 7227) and fuse insulator (p/n 27-7729). A little searching on the internet shows old 1936 and 1938 Philco parts books which confirms these are valid Philco part numbers. The fuse appears to be a 15 amp glass cartridge type. So I guess I gotta find suppliers of these antique parts. BTW, the old Philco catalogs have some toggle switches that look like the radio unauthorized use glove box switch photo I have seen on another EFV8 forum 1937 radio thread. zeke3 06-28-2023 @ 6:49 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 79 Joined: Apr 2011 Also note that there is a small cardboard tube that fits around the fuse inside the fuse holder to prevent the fuse from short circuiting to the metal fuse holder and preventing the fuse from protecting the circuit. Jacques1960 06-28-2023 @ 10:32 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 201 Joined: Aug 2020 Negative lead to lamp in control head is not fused, only lead to radio MG 06-28-2023 @ 9:09 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1254 Joined: Nov 2009 No, you don't need to ground the control head... I think the wire that goes from the control head to the receiver is for a lamp in the control head, but I don't understand why it would be fused... BRL 06-28-2023 @ 7:15 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 102 Joined: Oct 2021 Hi Guys: OK, so I will use my 6V car battery to power up the radio: -6V to the wire with lug that goes to the control head and +6V (ground) to the radio receiver chassis....right? Do I need to ground the control head chassis? Yes, I have the 1937 Ford Book and see the radio info on page A-20. I have a wire that goes from the control head to the receiver and it has a bayonet style fuse holder and the fuse is missing. I dont know what the value of the fuse is supposed to be or what style of fuse it is and the info on page A-20 doesnt seem to have it...does anyone know? My first steps are to open the receiver up and take a look at everything and make sure connections are good and nothing looks broken. Jacques1960 06-28-2023 @ 2:49 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 201 Joined: Aug 2020 Tubes are frequently loose; be sure all are firmly in their sockets. Note that, for open cars, the antennae are under both running boards. carcrazy 06-27-2023 @ 8:58 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1653 Joined: Oct 2009 Hi BRL, Do you have the EFV-8 Club's 1937 Ford Book? On page A-20 it shows the schematic for the Philco Auto Radio Model F-1442. This shows just about everything you need to know to get your radio to work. Even once you have everything connected properly, you may not be able to get the radio to play due to one or more burned out tubes or vibrator. Solid state vibrators are available. Be cautious about polarity when testing while using these vibrators as they are polarity sensitive and if you wire them incorrectly they will fail. Antique Electronic Supply can supply solid state vibrators and many radio vacuum tubes.

<< previous || next >>

PAGE: 1 2

NOTE: YOU MUST BE A REGISTERED USER AND BE LOGGED IN TO POST (and reply to) messages in this forum. If you are a first time user, please click the CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT in the masthead above to register and Log In. After that, all you do is LOG IN to enjoy using this site.

DISCLAIMER: The V-8 Club does no independent testing of any of the opinions, thoughts or suggestions presented in the website on the Forum, in the Tech Tips section, or any section. A reader should consider the website to be a forum wherein differing solutions to a particular set of circumstances may be discussed. Ultimately, the selection of an item for an individual's vehicle must be based upon the independent study of the vehicle owner in consultation with people in the hobby and restoration experts.

EFV-8 Club Forum Home | Back to Home Page | Contact the Webmaster

Copyright © 2009 - EFV-8.org
Powered by < CF FORUM > v.2.1